It’s not often – I can, in fact, think of no other occasion – that a car leaves me feeling both enamoured and frustrated in equal measure.

The car in question is the Jaguar I-PACE and it won’t come as a surprise to learn that my frustration comes from trying to live with a battery-powered car for a week without access to the infrastructure necessary to support the sudden change in circumstances.

It quickly became obvious that it was going to be a week of diminishing returns after the I-PACE was delivered, on a trailer, with a full charge. The theoretical maximum range of 292 miles is anything but in practice so, with a daily commute of 88 miles it wasn’t long before the car required charging, and that’s when my woes began.

My struggles weren’t the fault of Jaguar, or the I-PACE, rather the lack of three essential items: A driveway, and access to either home charging or public charging points.

What that all means is running an extension cable from a domestic socket to the car to charge it and, well, settling down for a long wait. Every hour plugged into the mains supply adds a maximum of seven miles meaning that my 88-mile commute requires a whopping 13 hours of charging. Not what I could accurately describe as convenient.

Upgrade to a home wallbox and that charging rate rises to a far more commute-friendly 22 miles per hour. That same 13 hours could almost yield a full charge but, in both instances, the lack of a driveway places a limit on the amount of charging time available. Fifty kilowatt public charging points can add as much as 168 miles per hour, but we’re still not talking about filling-up-at-the-pumps convenience.

And so, by the end of my week with the I-PACE, the lack of charging opportunities had diminished the available range to such an extent that I was suffering from range anxiety – which absolutely is a real thing – just driving round the block.

Phew! It feels good to get that off my chest…

And now that I have, I can talk about all the things I loved about the I-PACE.

For a start there’s the styling. Its designers have created a car that looks every inch the modern Jaguar, both inside and out. The sleek, coupe-like looks were inspired by the C-X75 supercar with a short, low bonnet, sweeping roofline and steeply-raked rear windscreen and with a squat and athletic profile it certainly stands out in a crowd.

Climb inside and everything will feel familiar to anyone who’s driven a Jaguar lately but it’s safe to say that there are some definite improvements over anything that’s gone before.

The infotainment system is the same Touch Pro Duo system debuted by the Velar. The main screen is 10 inches and the second screen 5.5. Crucially both have been updated for the I-PACE with EV-centric features such as power distribution and on-the-fly range calculations.

Another trick the car possesses is the ability to learn your driving style and make calculations based on that, as well as terrain and traffic.

The lower screen is my favourite piece of kit. It’s beautifully integrated and unstated and looks very classy. The two ‘soft’ dials can control a number of variables depending on which function you select. They also contain displays that can show the climate control or heated seat settings.

It also supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and I found that, in conjunction with the features provided with the lower screen, it worked extremely well.

The cabin of my review car was particularly pleasant, with the contrasting Mars Red and Ebony leathers providing real visual interest. There’s plenty of polished wood and aluminium to admire too.

There’s ample adjustment in the driver’s seat and steering wheel so it’s easy to find a decent driving position. There’s plenty of head and legroom for passengers too, even in the back. The absence of a transmission tunnel means that the floor is flat and you can comfortably seat three people across the rear bench.

There’s plenty of storage space as well, with a 10-litre cubby in the central armrest, room for a mobile phone at the base of the centre console where you’ll also find two USB sockets (there are six in total) and pull-out trays beneath the rear seats are big enough to accommodate a laptop. You also get three 12v sockets.

It rides on bespoke aluminium architecture, the firm’s most rigid assembly to date, with the car’s 2.2 tonnes perfectly distributed thanks to a battery that is placed centrally between the two axles and as low down as possible.

There’s an electric motor, designed in-house, on each axle delivering permanent all-wheel-drive. Performance is strong, as you’d expected from an electric vehicle. There’s no torque curve, unlike a combustion engine all of the twisting force that turns the wheels is available all of the time, so regardless of the speed you’re travelling at, when you put your foot down the I-PACE surges forward with real purpose.

There are no gears to flick through, either, so the sprint to 62mph takes just 4.8 seconds. It’s a shame there’s isn’t a thrilling soundtrack to accompany the dramatic increase in speed. There is a synthetic engine noise that you can adjust from calm to dynamic but, while it does help convey a sense of rising velocity, it doesn’t add much to the thrill.

Most of the time, however, you’ll be cruising along in near silence unless the mother-in-law’s in the back telling you where to go, in more ways than one. It rides on 20in alloys – though you can opt for 22in rims if you prefer – and as a result you certainly notice it when you hit a particularly big pothole.

It settles down significantly as you pick up speed and I found that the active air suspension (£1,100) fitted to my review car did a good job of isolating occupants from the majority of imperfections.

Where the I-PACE really shines is with its steering and immaculate body control, which makes light of its 2.2 tonnes. Its design is inspired by a supercar and, on tight twisty roads, it behaves (almost) like one.

The steering can feel a little numb off-centre initially but it weighs up nicely and is blessed with a delicious degree of precision. There’s a huge amount of grip and the car remains incredibly flat when you take a corner at speed. In the middle of the corner you can feel the motors shifting power from axle to axle to maximise traction and maintain your momentum.

It changes direction with a litheness and athleticism that stands comparison with the F-Type. Not entirely surprising as it shares its suspension set-up with the coupe. It’s still a big, heavy car, however, and if you’re too enthusiastic with your speed there’s just a hint of understeer before the traction control starts to rein you in.

The brakes take a little adjusting to. As with the majority of EVs they recover energy as you slow the car down but that process gives them a slightly artificial feel that makes them hard to judge accurately and smooth braking difficult.

Overall then, the I-PACE is not just a brilliant electric vehicle, it’s a brilliant car. It handles like a sports car and is incredibly quick too. The low-speed ride is a little underwhelming but the high-speed poise and precision more than compensates.

It’s easy to see why I became so enamoured by the I-PACE and, equally, why I found my week with it so frustrating. When a car’s this good, all you want to do is drive it but, in my neck of the woods, the lack of a decent EV charging infrastructure denied me that opportunity.

That said, if I was going to buy an EV, it would probably be this EV, and I think anyone looking to abandon the traditional methods of automobile propulsion should give it some serious consideration while also remembering that you need somewhere to plug it in.

Jaguar I-PACE HSE

Price: £74,445

As tested: £80,860

Battery: 90kW/h

Power: 400PS

Max speed: 124mph

Acceleration (0-62mph): 4.8sec

WLTP range: (up to) 292 miles

WLTP consumption: (From) 34kWh/100miles

Emissions (CO2): 0g/km

For more information visit www.jaguar.co.uk